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Welcome to Our World Clara

Things have been busy here the last several weeks...namely because as predicted Miss Clara made her entrance into the world early, three weeks early to be exact. So this past Sunday, on what would have been her due date, we were back at church dedicating our 3 week old little girl.

Introducing Clara Elizabeth East, born 4/24/17 at 9:28 pm. She weighed in at 7 lb 5 oz (pretty good for 37 weeks...and makes this mama glad she didn't go to term) and was 19.5 inches long.

For comparison Perry was 39 weeks and was 7 lb 13 oz and 19.5 inches. She didn't look all that big when she was born...in fact those of us in the room were shocked when she crossed 7 lb on the scale. We laughed and said she hides her weight well. The verdict is still out on hair color. It is definitely not Perry's kind of red. But it is somewhere between blonde and strawberry blonde depending on the day and lighting.

How it happened...

My blood pressure had been creeping up for several weeks. I was keeping close eye on it since we had issues late in pregnancy with Perry. And on Sunday the 23rd it hit a point (somewhere close to 150/105) where I finally called the doctors office to let them know. Dr. Aguayo said to go in to the hospital for monitoring and to rule out preeclampsia (which there were no signs of thankfully). However when we got to the hospital and connected the myriad of wires the nurse looked at me and said "are you feeling those contractions?" I said yes and that I had been having them all day but was trying to ignore them because they didn't really hurt. They were consistent though, every 3-5 minutes. Other than the contractions though I wasn't making major progress towards active labor. My blood pressure stayed up just laying in a hospital bed and given that and the fact that I was having regular contractions Dr. Aguayo called me and said she was thinking that if I was ready that we could go ahead and have a baby the next day...and we agreed. We kind of assumed that might be the outcome evidenced by the fact that our bags were in the car and Perry was dropped off with Granna with a suitcase. 37 weeks is considered term so all odds were that Clara would do just fine and we hoped that going ahead and inducing would avoid any scary labor issues with my blood pressure.

So we got admitted to labor and delivery late that Sunday night and started the slow process of initiating labor. We induced with Perry as well so we pretty much knew the routine. We tried our best to sleep that night and watched lots of Friends episodes on DVDs we brought. The next morning not much had changed and they started Pitocin. I will spare every detail of the next day but suffice it to say that it went reallllly slowly until the end when it went realllly quick (not unlike Perry's delivery but she is maybe a little more stubborn). 3.5 cm at 6 pm when water was broken and then Clara was born just before 9:30...after another visit from the trusty anesthesiologist because no one's epidural can keep up with that fast of progression. The actual delivery was a breeze and I really hate to even claim that any "pushing" happened. She was out in no time and was just perfect. Apgars were 8 and 9. Happy Birth Day Clara!

We immediately fell in love with our little girl (as if we weren't already). She has completed our family in the most perfect way and we are so thankful that God chose us to be her parents.

We are also so thankful for all the family and friends who came by and visited us, brought snacks, kept Perry, took pictures, and prayed for us as we welcomed Clara into the world and into our family.

Perry got to see his sister for the first time the next day. He brought her a balloon and a little stuffed animal to snuggle. If you know Perry you know how much he loves his "buddies" (stuffed animals) it is only fitting that he give his little sister one. He has done awesome with her and as assumed his big brother role well. We often call him the hand washing police because he will remind anyone who gets within 2 feet of her that they need to wash their hands before they can touch Clara. And he doesn't discriminate...he even told the pediatrician that once as if he needs a lesson in hand hygiene. He wants to touch her and hold her and when she cries he gives her a blanket or paci or toy. We can't wait to see the two of them continue to grow up together.

So that is where we have been the last couple weeks...adjusting to a baby and a family of four. And it is awesome.